Vietnam battles lingering bird flu threat
18.05.12
Since January, bird flu outbreaks have occurred in 14 provinces. About 65,000 chicken and ducks have died or been culled. Authorities have confirmed four human cases, of which two have been fatal.
It's a long way from the peak in 2003 to 2009 when the virus infected millions of fowl and killed 57 people -- making Vietnam the second worst-hit country after Indonesia, according to the World Health Organisation .
In 2011, the country reported no new human cases, but the virus was still there, less threatening but not eradicated.
"Bird flu has a harmful impact on agriculture, on people's lives, with the reappearance of new weaker strains," said Hoang Van Nam, director of the animal health department at the agriculture ministry.
Outbreaks happen nationwide, he said, adding this was due to a mix of "the family structure of farming, a lack of information and gaps in vaccination and farm control programmes."
Concerns about avian influenza have risen in the region with China, Cambodia and Indonesia all reporting deaths from the H5N1 strain of the virus this year.
Source: PhysOrg.com